Weekly Edition 14th January 2010

Bangladesh to address scrapyard safety issues

YOUTHFUL CONTENDER: last week’s strongest sale saw the 1987-built boxship Oslo Express go to an Indian breaker for $5.6m.

Report finds ‘shocking’ drill defects on lifeboats

MAKING A SPLASH: The campaign revealed one in every eight drills was unsatisfactory

UK masters in safety plea

STRONGER action is needed to stem continuing serious accidents and fatalities occurring in enclosed spaces on board ships, according to a group of British shipmasters.

Recognised Derbyshire campaigner honoured

PAUL Lambert, the chairman of the Derbyshire Families Association, has been recognised by the Queen for his services to maritime safety in the New Year Honours list, writes Richard Meade.

Casualty Briefs - 14th January 2010

 

New focus on secure cargo

THE AUSTRALIAN Maritime Safety Authority has the loading and securing of containers and the locking of hatch-covers in its sights.

Decision time for WA grain rail

THE WESTERN Australian Government is expected to reveal its plan of action for the state’s decaying grain rail network by the end of the month.

WA hits Prime with $73m tax bill over ARG purchase

THE NEW year has been soured for Prime Infrastructure Group, (formerly Babcock & Brown Infrastructure), with the Western Australian Government slapping the company with a $71.3m tax bill.

Western Plains secures Flinders Ports export deal

WESTERN Plains Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with Flinders Ports which will see a boost in bulk throughput at either Port Pirie or Port Adelaide.

Australian port queues fuelling global congestion

CONGESTION at Australia’s bulk ports shows no sign of easing.

Industry calls for federal help as offshore strike starts to bite

ACCUSATIONS and counter-accusations continued to fly between industry groups and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) as offshore support seafarer strikes rolled on last week and federal workplace relations minister Julia Gillard ignored calls to become involved.

Newcastle sets export record in December

THE PORT of Newcastle shipped a record of almost 52m tonnes of cargo in the six months to December thanks largely to coal, according to data released this week.

Stuart fuel hub at Port Bonython approved

ANOTHER piece in the Port Bonython jigsaw was put in place on Tuesday with South Australian planning minister Paul Holloway approving Stuart Petroleum’s $110m two-stage diesel storage and refinery facility.

Road carnage stirs demands for urgent shift in modal thinking

The holiday road toll in NSW, dominated by accidents involving trucks, has fuelled efforts to drive bulk and dangerous goods back onto the tracks and ocean, reports Rob McKay

Gladstone seeks contractors for LNG dredging project

GLADSTONE Ports Corporation (GPC) has called for dredging contractors to submit expressions of interest in its proposed Western Basin liquefied natural gas (LNG) dredging project ahead of a decision on its environmental submission.

Queensland lines cut by floods

QUEENSLAND Rail has reported an extended series of track closures and damage due to floods.

Green dismay as Bell Bay derailed

THE TASMANIAN Greens believes the state government’s move to axe rail freight services to Bell Bay will create a heavy strain on roads and businesses in the state’s north east.

Railyards to go under new plan for Hobart port

HOBART will lose its port rail yards under the draft master plan for Sullivans Cove released by the Tasmanian Government late in December.

Trade gap wider in November

THE TRADE deficit recorded in November, although an improvement on the previous month’s result, was a sign of the ongoing fallout of the global economic downturn, federal trade minister Simon Crean said.

Chevron and Nippon enter 15-year Gorgon deal

CHEVRON Australia and Japan’s Nippon Oil have signed a heads of agreement for the annual delivery over 15 years of 300,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas from its $43bn Gorgon project. The latest deal is among a spate of LNG contracts Chevron has secured in recent months.

Bigger Southern Lily to replace island trader

THE SOUTHERN Lily, which currently operates between New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa, will be replaced by a larger vessel of the same name on January 27.

Mariana to use larger vessels for Darwin, Townsville runs

MARIANA Express Shipping will introduce two larger vessels for its Darwin and Townsville services later this month.

Ports look to bar ships over swine flu concerns

SHIPS declaring they have respiratory disease onboard among crew or passengers face free pratique being inappropriately denied or delayed on arrival at some ports, according to a joint statement from a number of maritime organisations.

China boost for shipping shares

SHARES in Hong Kong-listed shipping companies surged on Monday amid renewed optimism over China’s continuing demand for bulk commodities, including iron ore, coal and grain and rising container volumes.

Top 20 lines braced for 35% fleet expansion

FLEET capacity of the world’s top 20 container lines is still on course to expand by more than a third over the next four years, clear evidence that shipyards have refused to accept order cancellations.

Open season begins on shipyard sweeteners

The multilateral fight against state aid for shipbuilders is intensifying with calls for greater transparency and new reporting rules. China and South Korea in particular face greater scrutiny over indirect subsidies, reports TOM LEANDER

FORGOTTEN SEAFARERS

Around the world hundreds of seafarers have been abandoned by employers and left on vessels to fend for themselves. Now, calls are growing for the authorities to act more decisively to alleviate this financial and human distress, writes BRIAN Reyes

UK masters safety plea

STRONGER action is needed to stem continuing serious accidents and fatalities occurring in enclosed spaces on board ships, according to a group of British shipmasters.

Volume of FFA trades predicted to double

THE VOLUME of dry bulk forward freight agreements (FFAs) traded this year is set to double compared with 2009 levels, according to Freight Investor Services.

Owners’ bonanza in Chinese coal shortage

WITH coal shortages starting to squeeze power supply in China and the country’s steel mills keen to secure iron ore stockpiles ahead of a new price agreement in April, capesize owners may have a bumper start to 2010.

African port coal stocks low after rail delays

RICHARDS Bay Coal Terminal’s stocks of the fuel are at their lowest in a year because deliveries by rail from mines are slower than the pace of exports, data from Africa’s biggest coal export facility shows.

Surge in price of iron ore

THE CASH price of iron ore delivered to China, the world’s biggest buyer, jumped to at least a 13-month high amid rising demand from steelmakers.

Inactive boxship fleet on the increase as slowdown bites

CONTAINER lines have withdrawn more ships from service over the past few weeks as trade conditions stay slack during the northern winter slowdown.

Shippers risk falling foul of US sanctions

FREIGHT forwarders and shippers are at risk of violating US sanctions by unwittingly moving cargo on a vessel that is cited as blocked.

Long Beach and LA figures hint at possible recovery

THE COLLAPSE in cargo volumes through Los Angeles and Long Beach is starting to slow, according to November traffic figures released by the two ports, which showed considerable year-on-year declines.

Chinese yards vie for PNG carrier deal

CHINESE yards will compete for just one new liquefied natural gas carrier order for a new Papua New Guinea LNG export facility despite the requirement for at least five ships for shipments.

Transpacific rates down 27% on January 2009

CONTAINER lines suffered a huge erosion in transpacific freight rates during 2009, with those for eastbound spot cargo falling by more than a quarter over the past 12 months.

MOL pursues nine-fold income rise to counteract recession

MITSUI OSK Lines aims to make a ninefold increase in operating income a “top priority” as it seeks to overcome possible turbulence in the global shipping markets, the head of the Japanese shipping giant said.

Wärtsilä to service Maersk engines

Maersk LNG director Claus Thomsen said: “The contract guarantees us stable maintenance costs for at least the next five years.” From the manufacturer’s point of view such contracts enable detailed monitoring of engines’ performance, allowing any preventative maintenance or repair to be carried out before there is a risk of failure.

Shippers risk lives by misdeclaring weight in containers

Failure to declare accurate box weight information remains widespread despite industry efforts to combat the worrying trend, reports JANET PORTER

Singapore clings to top box spot despite crisis

SINGAPORE is set to retain its title as the world’s busiest box port even though container volumes last year fell for the first time since the dotcom bubble burst in 2001.

Russian master found to be drunk in charge of grain ship

A RUSSIAN master was fined £2,000 (US$3,200) with £100 costs at Southampton magistrates’ court last Friday, within hours of being found drunk in charge of a ship that berthed erratically at the UK port the night before.

New body formed for maritime health

RISING concerns about health issues affecting seafarers and passengers onboard ships have prompted the creation of a new trade body to promote the medical interests in the maritime industry on a global basis.